The Toddler Does Chattanooga

Mike had to take one last class for his Certified Economic Developer program and since it was in Chattanooga, I decided to take advantage of my flexible schedule and bring Blair along so we could visit the Tennessee Aquarium and the Creative Discovery Museum!

I love Chattanooga, it's actually my favorite city in Tennessee, so I'll take any excuse to visit, but this was an especially enjoyable trip because Blair had so much fun! We arrived at the Read House Hotel early in the morning on Wednesday and since our room wasn't ready yet, Blair and I kissed Mike goodbye and walked down to the Maple Street Biscuit Company, where we shared a Loaded Goat biscuit of fried chicken and goat cheese. DROOL. So good. I could live in those biscuits.

Photo courtesy of Maple Street Biscuit Co.'s website because I ate mine too quickly.

We grabbed our tickets for the Aquarium and were the first ones in the door. A school group started in other building so we basically had the place to ourselves for the first half hour. Blair said "hi!" to all the employees, who just fawned over her and her excitement for the peesh, and we saw some very active penguins and chatty macaws. She especially enjoyed running up and down all of the ramps in the buildings and squealed happily at the otters, who really put on a show for us.

She was even excited about the wall fish

Looking at stingrays and baby sharks!

"Keep up, mama!"

Such pretty jellies!

After a very busy morning and afternoon at the aquarium, we headed back to the hotel for some relaxation and Blair conked out for a hard-earned nap. We met up with Mike at the end of his day and had a delicious dinner at Taco Mamacita - which serves up some of the best, fanciest tacos I've ever seen in my life. We have one in Nashville, so we'd been there before, but this time I had the Steakhouse taco and it was AMAZING.

The chips & salsa before Blair demolished half the bowl.

The next day I worked from the hotel room in the morning and packed up while Blair took a nap and Mike finished his last session. He had to give a quick presentation at a manager's conference at a nearby hotel in the afternoon, so after lunch, Blair and I headed to the Creative Discovery Museum. We've done the aquarium several times, but I've never been in the Discovery Museum and I was pleasantly surprised by all the things they had to keep kiddos busy! Our little water-baby was delighted to see a tub full of water fountains and boats the minute we walked in and things just got more exciting from there!

"Here mama, try this boat soup I made"

A little further into the museum was an area for children under 4 called the Little Yellow House. Blair was absolutely blown away by the kitchen setup in there and spent a good chunk of our afternoon playing with the fake food, cooking things in the microwave and the stove, rearranging the fridge and shopping at the farmer's market. The area also had a little garage workshop, complete with tools and a classic car!

Obsessed with putting things in the microwave

"How do I make this thing go?"

Sweeping out the garage

Some of the other areas of the museum had lego building stations, playdoh, a doctor's office and a geology and dinosaur area with a large sandbox full of "fossils." It was a great way to spend the afternoon and there were tons of interesting things for older kids. We will most definitely be back next time we're in town!